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I am applying for health insurance (having lost my job and its coverage
more than a year ago) and the well-respected company I have applied to
wants to add a 25% surcharge for my son and myself because we are
celiacs.  It seems to me from the interview I had with the underwriter
that this is based on my honest answer that I have, in the past three
years, had occasional gluten reactions.  Since I am one of those celiacs
who reacts very quickly to even small amounts of the forbidden grains,
you can imagine that (1) it does happen sometimes no matter how hard I
try to stay gluten free and (2) I am trained, Pavlov's dog-like, to stay
on the diet as faithfully as possible.

I wonder if any of the medical professionals who monitor this list can
speak to the issues of increased health risks as seen from the view of
an insurance underwriter. Does someone following the diet as strictly as
possible warrant a 25% increase in insurance premium? Are the risks that
great?

--
Linda Blanchard
http://www.nowheat.com
celiac cooking, food allergies, science fiction and more